My "Local" Agenda...

It's late, yet I feel that I should write a little to unload the information out of my head.  It's the end of the fourth week and I feel like every week has been a finals week for me this quarter.  I have not eaten a proper breakfast in the past 2 weeks and I have been going to sleep quite late every night now and failing to attend some of my classes.  2 weeks ago, I host a Game Making competition in the Videogame Development Club of UC Irvine and accepted the responsibility of audio for both teams.  To make it short, it was a productive experience that was both tiring and fulfilling.  I am still waiting for the judges to make their decision.  Our Vice President was able to get faculty members of the Game Culture and Virtual Worlds Department of UC Irvine, employees from Obsidian Entertainment, and the producer of Diablo 3 to judge our games.  It's very exciting, but that week spent working on the music has really taken a toll on both my schedule and health as I haven't been getting enough sleep or proper rest.  Every night I worry about getting work for my classes done and dreading the classes I feel is wasting my time.  I have already missed 2 assignments due to shortage of time and not knowing about them.  I keep a scheduler at hand and I still have assignments that slip past me.  Either the teachers are not stating the assignments clearly enough or I seriously have way too much on my hands.  I have 10 assignments this weekend that's all due all across this weekend (with the exception of one essay).  This high stress is really difficult to handle, and I can usually cope with it when I play videogames, play piano, or draw.  But I've been so busy that I rarely get to do any of them let alone sleep.  I get to play about 2-5 hours of Videogames a week if possible, 1-3 hours of piano a week, and barely 30 mins of drawing if I'm lucky and I'm just sitting somewhere at school waiting for a club meeting to start.  To say the least, I'm very unhappy and feel rather depressed with my situation.  I really want to concentrate on building a portfolio, creating a great resume and start applying for jobs now while I still can.  My classes are doing very little to help me in my career or make me feel good about my work.  There are nights where I feel I should just drop out of college and learn the actual way of getting a job.  I've gone so far in my studies that I feel that it'd be a waste though, and I'm a very stubborn student who doesn't like to give up.  If I didn't have as much homework, studying and reading as I did now and didn't have letters reflect my value as a student or person, I would be enjoying my studies so much more and possibly be even learning something from my classes.  Unfortunately, I have about seven weeks of school left and am so deep in work right now that I fear the possibility of failing some of my classes.

It isn't just this quarter though.  The finals week of Winter quarter 2010 was very stressful, even though it was only Chinese Art History.  I couldn't sleep the night before the exam and had only 2 hours of sleep.  Then when it was all over, I thought I could enjoy my spring break only to go home and get sick (cold maybe? I never found out) for the rest of the week and didn't start recovering until Saturday of Spring Break.  What was great about spring break was not having to deal with school and having "some" good things happen to me.  Upon returning home for spring break, I found out that the Game Crazy that I visited once a week back in Sacramento City College was shutting down and had games 20% off.  I went in and saw that they had Persona 3 FES and couldn't let up the chance, so I bought it for $24.

Then I went to Costco, still with my family, and saw Final Fantasy XIII for PS3 and Pokemon SoulSilver for Gameboy DS.  I couldn't resist and couldn't decide, so my dad let my get both.  Happy with my new games, I went home and remembered that a friend left his Modern Warfare 2 for PS3 at my house.  The day I started feeling the sickness, I got a call from a friend I haven't seen in 1.5 years and had him over to hang out.  He stayed from Monday to Friday morning.  We played Modern Warfare 2, DotA, Phantasy Star Online and some Super Smash Bros. Brawl.  But at one point in spring break, my sickness had my allergies affected too and I couldn't breath, see, or think.  He knew I was sick, but still came over to hang out anyways.  So I was mostly watching him play games while I suffered the effects of allergies raping my face while coughing and sneezing.  To end Spring Break, one of my computer stopped displaying and essentially stopped working.  It was possibly one of the worst spring breaks I've ever had so far.

I don't think I should stay up any longer, I have a mid-term to study for, an essay to write, and 8 other assignments to attend to tomorrow.  hmm, actually a few more things:

I signed up for the Beta testing of Genesis A.D. on ijji.com and was selected as one of the beta testers.  I had the incentive of winning prizes, but didn't win any and doubt I'll win anything.  But I feel that it's good practice and experience in game testing since I'll be applying for that position in my first step to the Interactive Entertainment Industry.  It's quite fun, though the gameplay does take a bit of adjusting to play efficiently.

I'm also keeping my eye on a game called "Lead & Gold" which I really want to get.  It's only $15, so it's very tempting.  Lots of tempting deals actually.  Left 4 Dead 2 is $20.09 right now, but I don't feel like getting it now.  I wish I had more time to play games and do more productive activities I enjoy...

Here Comes Justice!!!

I finally beat Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney for the Nintendo DS!  I failed to go to fall asleep early because of how I destroyed my sleep pattern this past weekend.  I woke up with only 6 hours of sleep today in hopes of falling asleep a lot easier tonight in hopes of getting more studying done for my last final exam on Friday; however, I feel sorta dizzy because of the lack of sleep.  Anyways, I want to keep this short as I'm going to go back into studying very soon.

[Apollo Justice - Nintendo DS]

Story: The build up of the story was excellent and very well constructed with main chapters, involving characters, twists that relate to both past and present, and had an incredible concept near the end of the game for players to "find out the truth" behind a certain "character".  The only thing I would have against the story is how it didn't have a huge finale with a gratifying ending that the previous three Ace Attorney/Gyakuten Saiban installments had.  Nonetheless, the story followed through and gave the player an experience through several characters' points of view.  9/10

Graphics: You can tell the difference between this one and the previous three installments, and at one point of the game, it lets you "experience that".  The animations were just as quirky, witty, and humorous as the others, but the rough edges were taken out (not as pixelated as before).  The beginning of each chapter has a cinematic  like opening with moving animations rather than still shots; however, there were many parts of the game where a still shot or additional moving animation would have benefit the scene, but was left empty.  Again with inventive character designs and a crazy animation of a "particular character" at the end of the game.  9/10

Audio: Sound Effects are more or less the same as its predecessors, but it's not a bad thing.  New recordings of the characters saying their usual: "Hold it!" or "Objection!" reflect the characters' personalities rather well.  The music is incredible to no surprise.  I have always liked the music composed for the Ace Attorney/Gyakuten Saiban series for its memorable melodies and upbeat nature.  The best thing ever was to hear some tracks back from the very first Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney game, you'll see what I mean if you play it.  9/10

Gameplay: I have to confess right now, the game was much more easier to go through than the Phoenix Wright series.  This was possibly done for a more general audience, which is fine.  But those who were looking for a challenge in puzzle solving and detective work will get something easier than what's expected from the series.  Especially near the end, everything seemed to have an obvious interaction which didn't require as much thinking.  There were a lot of new implementations of puzzle solving that was added and possibly experimented with the very first Phoenix Wright in the extra chapter.  One other thing that crossed my mind was that I realized I miss seeing a lot of familiar characters back in the game.  Perhaps I'll see them in Miles Edgeworth's game?  8/10

Overall: The game was noobed up a lot, which made it easier to go through and a lot less aggravating I suppose.  I still enjoyed it and had a great experience going through the story.  I really hope Capcom continues to make more Ace Attorney/Gyakuten Saiban games as it is one of the best series I've played in the longest time.  I can see why some people want to be Attorneys because of this game.  9/10

For those of you unfamiliar to the series, go pick it up if you can find it:

1) Phoenix Wright Ace Attorney

2) Phoenix Wright Justice for All

3) Phoenix Wright Trials and Tribulations

4) Apollo Justice Ace Attorney

5) Miles Edgeworth Ace Attorney Investigations